The Hollywood baby names staging a comeback

The golden age of Hollywood is staging an unlikely revival - in baby names.

According to the BabyCenter website, 2016 has seen more and more parents turning to the the glamourous era for inspiration when it comes to naming their little ones.

While some mums and dads play it safe and go for evergreen names such as Jack and Emily, which regularly appear in the top ten, others are keen to find something less familiar - opting for everything from Mabel to Buster.

In the search for baby names that haven’t become commonplace today parents are turning back the clock beyond their parents’ generation to those of their grandparents and great-grandparents.

Evoking images of black-and-white film stars oozing class and sophistication during Hollywood’s heyday, vintage names such as Audrey, Clark, Ingrid and Humphrey are starting to appear.

BabyCenter mum Gemma says she’s heard lots of talk about the “100-year rule”, explaining where this new trend has come from.

“Names that were popular 100 years ago seem to be the ones that are becoming popular now,” she explains. “Rose and Alfie are examples of these. They were names closely associated with our grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ generations.

“I think that the comeback is partly due to people’s associations with the names. Names that were popular in our parents’ generation - Roger, Carol - we still associate heavily with them and find it hard to imagine a child with those names. But the majority of Roses and Elsies are from a generation further back.”

It’s also thought that names from previous generations are viewed as “classier” and under-used compared with other recent trends. Although give it ten years, when classrooms are packed with Flynns and Letitias, and that attitude might well have changed again.